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Obama pledges to redirect immigration enforcement

By David Nakamura and Zachary A. GoldfarbWashington Post

Posted:
06/30/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT

Updated:
06/30/2014 10:15:04 PM CDT

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama angrily conceded Monday that Congress would not overhaul immigration laws this year and announced that he will redirect immigration enforcement efforts to the border.

The action -- intended to help stem a recent influx of minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally -- could also pave the way for Obama to enact measures to ease the deportation of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who have lived in the country for years.

Speaking the White House Rose Garden, Obama said he will pursue executive actions by the end of summer to "fix as much of our immigration system as we can. If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours."

Obama did not provide specifics in his remarks. But advocates who met with the president beforehand said Obama told them he would build off a 2012 decision to defer the deportations of young people brought to the country illegally as children. Democrats and activists have called on him to dramatically expand that program and Obama has ordered aides to review his legal options.

Obama vowed to take action after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told him last week that there would not be an immigration vote in the House this year. The president, pointing to a bipartisan Senate deal on immigration approved in 2013, chided House Republicans as bowing to extremist pressures in their party rather than pursuing changes backed by most Americans.

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"Our country and our economy would be stronger today if House Republicans had allowed a simple yes-or-no vote on this bill or, for that matter, any bill," Obama said, raising his voice. "Instead, they've proven again and again that they're unwilling to stand up to the tea party in order to do what's best for the country. And the worst part about it is, a bunch of them know better."

While Obama was one of the last to acknowledge that immigration legislation was going nowhere this year, the collapse of perhaps his biggest second-term priority represented a low point for him. For over a year, White House officials have held out hope that House Republicans would pass an overhaul of immigration laws, driven by pressure from business interests and a political desire to win Latino votes.

But GOP leaders blame Obama for failing to adequately protect the border and for using executive authority to circumvent Congress -- a complaint exacerbated Monday by his decision to go it alone on immigration. Boehner has announced plans to sue Obama over his use of executive actions, and the Supreme Court ruled last week that the president acted unconstitutionally by appointing several high-level aides without Senate approval.

"Speaker Boehner told the president exactly what he has been telling him: The American people and their elected officials don't trust him to enforce the law as written," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. "Until that changes, it is going to be difficult to make progress on this issue."

Obama himself is likely to face intense pressure from immigration activists who believe the president has waited far too long to take executive action to slow deportations. Seeking to blunt that pressure, the president on Monday spent an hour with a group of about 20 leading advocates to discuss options.

Obama had delayed an internal review of deportation enforcement policies at the Department of Homeland Security until the end of summer in hopes that the House GOP would move forward on comprehensive immigration legislation.

Having given up hope on that, the president's review likely will focus on how far the administration can go toward expanding a 2012 program focused on immigrants brought to the United States as children, which has allowed more than 500,000 undocumented people to live and work in the country.